


Daddy Lessons

by edourado



Series: Hell's Kitchen Chronicles [47]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, karedevil - Freeform, some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 17:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8498323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edourado/pseuds/edourado
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Karen telling Matt she's pregnant





	

**Author's Note:**

> I got carried away

Truth be told, he didn’t feel like going out. 

Which, if you think about it, says a lot. But he had to. 

With his mask in his hand, he walked out of his bedroom, following the sound of her voice in the living room. 

“What’s the best you can do?” she was asking Ellison, phone to her ear, sitting on the couch. “This is gonna take a while.”

_ “Take your time _ ” _ ,  _ her editor was saying.  _ “If you do this right, it could be huge. _ ”

“Bigger than huge”, she replied while Matt  bent, bowed his head and touched his lips softly to her neck, lingering there for a second before straightening up again and turning to climb the stairs to the roof access. “A month? Maybe two?” She smelled of his soap and her own shampoo and coffee.

He really didn’t want to go out tonight.

“You alright, man?” Luke asked him while they sat there on his roof, waiting for Danny. 

“Yeah”, he replied, turning his head towards his friend. “Why?”

“I don’t know, you seem… Different.”

“Different?” he smirked. 

“Yeah. Like… Giddy.”

“Oooh, he got some”, Jessica teased, walking down the edge of the building, playing the balance game. 

He could feel Luke smiling and looking at him. 

“My man”, he praised, punching him on the shoulder, and Matt winced. 

“Watch those fists, Power Man”, he said, giving up on containing his smile. 

Luke asked for details, Jessica teased some more, but he kept his mouth shut. He was not going to tell them about the long, exciting, incredible night he had with Karen, where they released all the built up desire of two weeks worth or incompatible calendars, interruptions and miscommunication. Matt would keep it to himself how she had stopped by his office and sat on his lap while he was on a conference call with Danny Rand and the DA’s office, loosened his tie, undid the top buttons of his shirt and his belt, teasing him while he talked about bank transfers and legal deals. 

The way he had gotten up, sat her on his desk and planted himself between her thighs, groping and kissing her silly, hand going from her knee to her hip, bringing her closer while Tower talked, would remain a secret. 

As would their walk home (she had insisted they walked, just so she could whisper the most toe-curling suggestions in his ear every time they had to stop and wait to cross the street).

Matt was not going to tell them how she pulled him through an alley, kissed him soundly, weaving her hands around his neck and into his hair, rolled her body off the wall towards him, allowed him to kiss her neck and stick a hand up her dress and then pushed him off her, taking his hand and leading him towards the busy avenues again, deciding they needed to get coffee at the most crowded Starbucks she could find. 

Finally, he was not going to tell them how he didn’t wait until they got to his apartment to start undressing her, lowering the zipper of her dress while they still climbed the stairs, raising it above her head on the hallway, making her gasp and giggle, covering her body with his as she unlocked the door with the key she had fished from his pocket - again taking a lot longer than she needed to - one of his hands inside her bra, the other teasing the elastic of her underwear, or how he pressed her to the wall again when they were, finally, inside, the door closed behind them. Matt wished he could tell them how he had to kiss her silent while he moved inside her, because she was very vocal and Fran, nosy, grumpy Fran, had opened her door and was standing there looking out at the empty hall, trying to listen.      

But no. He would tell them none of that. That’s between him and Karen. And he’s a gentleman. 

Just then, the door opened and there she was, dress dancing around her legs while she stepped into the wind. 

“You forgot this”, she told him, handing him his burner phone. “Hi guys.”

“Oh, hi Karen!” Jessica jumped from the ledge and walked to her, taking her arm and walking them back inside. “It’s been a while. How are you?” 

Luke waved, grinning. 

“Jessica”, Matt tried to stop them, because he knew she was just trying to get information to make fun of him later. She’s not really the type to gossip about boys. “We have work to do.”

“Danny’s not here, is he?” she said, “Call me when he arrives. I need a break.”

And they disappeared back inside. 

Great. 

“They’re gonna talk about you, man”, Luke offered, unnecessarily. 

Matt sighed. 

“I know.”

.:.

He hated dealing with the mayor. Hated it. It was necessary, he got good information (plus good money) while doing it, but oh, he hated it. It’s been a month of it and he was closer and closer to punching the man on the throat.

Matt got home and found Karen sitting on the couch, her leg twitching. 

“Oh, there you are!” she breathed out, getting up and walking to him, pulling him by the hand until they reached the couch again.

He let himself be pulled, loosening his tie, dropping his bag on one of the chairs, his cane against it. 

“What’s up?” he asked, sitting by her on the couch, pulling one of her legs to his lap to run his hands from her ankle to her knee. “Everything ok?” 

“I need to, uh…” she started, and he frowned at the shaky quality in her voice. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” he asked, listening to her heart beating a little faster than usual. But, otherwise, everything seemed ok, and she was letting him massage her leg, so he figured it was nothing huge. With a side smile to maybe help her relax a bit, he cocked his head. “Are you pregnant?”, he joked. 

But then he listened as her breath caught and she froze for a moment, her heart going even faster. 

The smile on his face faltered. 

“How did you- Can you- Can you sense that already?!” she asked, and her voice was definitely shaking now. 

His own heart sped up.

“Wha- Are you- I was kidding! You really are pregnant?!” 

Tuning in to the point he could hear her bones moving as she breathed, he senses as her skin awakened in shivers, her chin trembled and her face twisted in a sad scowl, the tears spilling from her eyes. 

“Oh my G-” his hands were glued to her legs as she took her own to her face to try and stop the tears that were coming. “When, since when do you-” he didn’t know what to ask. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, letting out a shuddering breath that he felt all the way inside his chest. 

“I went to see Claire today after lunch. We spent the afternoon doing a million tests. I’m sure.”

The ground left from under him for a moment that stretched. His palms went cold and all the reasons why a baby was the worst idea started jumbling in his mind, one after the other, and he didn’t even have time to analyze any of them. 

“Matt?” her voice sounded far. “Please say something.”

And then a thought. One simple thought of him, holding a small baby in his arms, followed by another, of Karen singing a lullaby. Another, of them trying to bathe a little kid, of them looking for a bigger apartment. Another, of someone calling him “dad”.

He was going to be someone’s dad. And Karen would be their mom. She was- and he was- they were having a baby. 

“Oh God, Matt, please, please say something”, her voice sounded closer, one of her hands on his arm. 

He shook his head once and then got up, pulling her from the couch and then hugging her tight to him. 

Karen blinked furiously, her hands closing in fists and opening again, before she rested them on his arms, right before he caught her face and kissed her through her tears, his own hands shaking, now, his heart beating so hard he could hear it. 

“Are- are you happy? she asked and he had to laugh. 

“Of course I’m happy, are you kidding me?!”

“Oh my God, Matt, you scared the shit out of me!” she said, letting the tears come, now, not trying to stop them anymore and he laughed, kissing her through it, her lips, her face, hugging her to him again. 

“You’re not happy?” he asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve been freaking out!” 

He laughed again, he couldn’t seem to stop laughing. 

Picking her up, he made her wrap her legs around his waist and sat down on the couch again, with her sitting on top of him. When she let go of his shoulders to take her hands to her face and wipe the tears away, he waved his fingers through her hair and brought her face to his because he wanted to kiss her again.

“Oh shit, we’re having a kid”, he said, that smile still there, he couldn’t control it. “I’m gonna call you baby-momma, now.”

That little sentence seemed to turn things around for her. With tears still falling down her eyes, she let out a deep laughter that shook her whole body.    

“Oh no, please don’t”, she said, crying and laughing. “You can’t pull that off.”

.:.

A month later and he was about to crawl out of his skin. He wanted to tell everyone, publish it on the front page of the Bulletin everyday, print out flyers and dump them from the top of the Empire State, lit up Times Square with the news. He’s going to be a father. 

But, so far, he could only let his excitement out around Karen and Claire. It was too soon to start telling people, they reasoned. “Calm down”, they told him. Claire only let him pick her up once, when he went to see her the next day. She laughed and congratulated him, but then told him to put her down. He would hang out in her office a lot, now, following her around as she treated patients, asking questions, cataloguing all her answers, trying to keep his mouth shut around friends and the other people they knew, but he wanted to scream it. 

_ I’m having a baby.  _

Karen was, thank goodness, ok with the idea, now, so she let him vent. Laughed with him and at him, but it was better than the doubts that had made her so anxious those first weeks. 

“I love you”, he would tell her, every chance he could, every time he remembered it. He would call her in the middle of the day just to say it, just to hear her breathing on the other side of the line.

“I love you too”, she would answer. 

.:.

When they hit the seven weeks mark (he counted his time in weeks, now), he woke Foggy up. 

“The hell, man?” his friend asked, opening the door for him, still half asleep.”It’s my day off.”

“I have news”, he said, walking past him and into the living room, listening to make sure Marci wasn’t there.

“What? You made the Avengers!”

“Wha- no! Stop it with the Avengers thing”. When Foggy closed the door and walked to join him in the living room, he felt himself smile. 

“You’re scaring me dude, what is it?”

“I’m having a baby.”

Foggy stared at him for a second or two.

“What do you mean?”

Matt frowned. 

“I mean Karen’s pregnant.”

“Karen Page?”

His shoulders sagged. 

“No, some random Karen I just met downstairs. Yes, of course Karen Page!”

“You’re shitting me”, Foggy said, and Matt was glad to hear the smile forming. 

“Nope.”

“Dude! What the fuck, you’re gonna be a dad!”

They hugged and laughed and then they ran out the door. Some twenty minutes later and they were walking into Karen’s office, who looked at them from behind her computer. 

“Foggy, hey!”, she greeted while Matt closed the door to give them privacy. “What’s going on, guys?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s going on’,  _ mom _ ?” he asked, walking to her and pulling her up and into a hug. “I’m so happy for you!”

Karen sighed and hugged him back. 

“Oh, thanks! Matt? I thought we were gonna wait?!” 

He shrugged. 

“Sorry. Couldn’t help it.”

That night they went out for drinks - Karen had a sparkling apple cider. Matt and Foggy had way too many whiskeys. 

.:.

Nine weeks rolled in and all he wanted to do was talk to the bump. Tell it stories of how he met Karen, how she sneaked up on him and when he realized he liked her it was too late to go back. Make plans about the future and ask it if it was cozy in there. And tell it he loves it. 

Because he did. He already loved this tiny bundle of cells so much, it was strange.

He would make Karen sit on the couch while he sat on the floor, talking to the bump. 

He would sleep on his front, his pillow on the middle of the bed, his hand on the bump. 

He would kiss her goodbye when they left for work, and then he would bend to kiss the bump. 

His world turned around the bump.

.:.

Foggy teared up when Matt asked if he would be godfather. Claire smiled and gathered his face for a big kiss on his cheek when asked if she would be godmother. They both said “of course”. 

Trish visited with a huge basket full of baby things and asked if Karen had time to talk business.

.:.

At 23 weeks, they found a new apartment. 

They had officially moved in together a week or two after she told him about the baby, but the kid wouldn’t fit in his loft, so off they went looking for a new place. 

The new one was bigger. He was finally making more money, consulting with the mayor’s and the DA’s office so often like that, and Karen’s new job at Trish Talk payed better (that was one of the pitch points the Jessica’s sister had made when she offered her the position. More money, a nice long maternity leave, as long as she worked exclusively for them, now). 

“What do you think?” she asked when Foggy and Jane, the realtor lady, stepped out to give them some time. 

He shook his head, smiling. 

“I’m happy wherever my girls are.”

She smiled and kissed him. 

“We don’t know if it’s a girl yet.”

“I do. It’s a girl.”

She shook her head, pulling him outside. 

“Whatever you say.”

.:.

He was right. When the baby finally stopped in a position where the doctor could tell, she raised her eyebrows. 

“Looks like dad was right. It’s a girl.”

He almost cried. He already knew, without a shadow of a doubt, but to have everybody else know, for sure, that there was a little girl coming their way made him almost lose his cool. 

That night, while they lied in their bed in the new apartment, surrounded by boxes, he caressed Karen’s belly and spoke to his unborn daughter, as he would everyday. 

“Dad loves you, baby girl”, he said when Karen was falling asleep. 

For the first time, the baby kicked with enough confidence for him to suspect she heard him. 

Karen chuckled. 

“Ow.”

After that, every time he said he loved either one of them, Karen’s response would be “we love you too.”

.:.

At 27 weeks, the Punisher gave him some advice.

He had been freaking out a bit, thinking about how he was going to raise a kid in this world, this city, amidst all that… Ugliness he saw everyday. How was he gonna raise a child when he did what he did.

When Frank Castle confronted him, having noticed he was unfocused and sloppy, Matt didn’t really put up a fight in telling him. 

He told him about the pregnancy, told him about his doubts. The ex-military scoffed. 

“Jesus Christ, you two are the most dramatic pair I’ve ever met in my life.”

“What do you mean?”, he asked.

Frank explained how difficult it had been, being a father and going to war, not being there every day for his kids. How he put himself in danger every day and how he missed his family like crazy, how it almost did drive him crazy a few times. 

“What you do here, Red, is it’s own kind of war. But you get to see them everyday, you get to be here. All you gotta do is be smart about it. But don’t be a pussy and give up the best thing in your life. That’s what’s gonna keep you sane.”

Matt turned that notion in his head until the next night, when Frank met him with on a random roof. He shoved a bottle of beer in his hand. 

"Congratulations, choir boy.”

After the baby was born, “Uncle Frank” became one of her favorite sitters, as well as her parent’s (it’s good to know you got the Punisher watching your kid. Nothing’s gonna go through that ray of sunshine).

.:.

At 30 weeks, Karen was restless. 

Her clothes didn’t fit anymore, she was uncomfortable all the time, and the little princess-warrior inside her felt like she needed to stretch every five minutes. 

“Hey, baby”, he would whisper, running his hand on the belly while Karen lied on her side on the bed in her underwear (she was perpetually hot, now), in a mood. “Stop hurting mommy.”

“It’s my own fault. Getting knocked up by a ninja.”

He smiled. 

“No matter what mommy says, daddy’s not a ninja, peanut. It’s important you know that.”

“Of course he’s not. He’s just a blind lawyer who can kick anybody’s ass and hand it to them. That’s not a ninja.”

That night, they found out their peanut would calm down when they both talked to her. 

Turns out, like daddy, she liked the sound of Karen’s voice. And, like mommy,she would relax when Matt talked to her, using that soothing tone mom loves so much. 

.:.

At week 39, Matt opened his eyes in the middle of the night. 

His pillow was, as per usual, by Karen’s huge bump. He had just fallen asleep, his nose almost touching her belly, but a strange sound woke him up.

“Karen. Karen, wake up.”

“Hmm, what?”

“It’s time”, he said at the same time she sat up, gasping. Her water had broken. 

He shot out of bed, phone in hand, bag on his shoulder, running around like a headless chicken while Karen got dressed, asking him to “calm down, please!” 

Foggy was there in record time with the car. Claire was waiting for them at the hospital door when they arrived, he was trying his best to keep it together while Karen tried not to scream at the contractions.

“Let it out, girl, it’s gonna get worse than that”, Claire instructed. 

After three hours of hearing Karen scream and having his hand squeezed to the point of pain, he was holding his daughter in his arms, Foggy was calling everyone, Karen was sleeping and the peanut was squeezing his finger as tight as she could - which was nothing compared to the pressure Karen had applied to it. Well, compared to anything, really.         

And Matt was finding out he didn’t really know what love was before that night. He had a vague idea, but he didn’t know. 

.:.

She liked to sleep in his arms. 

Karen was the one accepted to bathe her, feed her (obviously) and almost everything else. But, when it came to sleeping, she wanted him to rock her in his arms and talk to her until her little eyes closed.

More than once, Karen would find him, dressed as his alter ego, mask and everything, walking to and fro in the nursery while peanut had her three AM bottle of formula. She was developing a schedule very similar to Matt’s vigilante activities.

.:.

“Guys, just go!” Foggy told them, his goddaughter sitting on his leg, munching on a pacifier. 

“Go!”, their baby echoed. At six months, she was a regular chatterbox and would repeat virtually every one syllable word she heard.  

The first date night after the baby was born was proving to be hard on both of them. 

“I’m on my phone”, Matt told him, putting his jacket on. “On both of them, actually.”

“Ok”, Foggy said, bouncing the little girl on his knee, making her giggle. 

“And mine!” Karen said, putting her heels on. “And if you can’t reach us, call the restaurant.”

“And if you can’t get the restaurant, call Claire.”

“Keh!”

“But she’s busy tonight. If you can’t get her, call Frank.”

“Fwank!”

“And if I can’t get him, I’ll call the Avengers”, he rolled his eyes. “Guys, it’s ok. I got this. We’re gonna have fun, aren’t we, chubby?”

The baby laughed at him, spitting out her pacifier, drooling on her own shirt. Foggy laughed. 

“Gross. Go, get out of here!”

“Ok”, Karen said, bending to kiss the little girl’s forehead. “Bye, peanut.”

“Bye!”

“We’ll be back soon, ok?”

“Ok?” the baby echoed.

When Matt took more than ten seconds on his farewell, Foggy snapped. 

“Go, Murdock!” he shouted. 

“Murdock!” peanut shouted after him. 

The three grown ups stared at her. When she said it again, they all screamed and crowded her.

They didn’t leave for another hour.

.:.

His weekend weren't for sleeping in anymore. 

Usually at seven, eight at most, he would be shaken, poked, trampled on by a little storm in the shape of a small girl. 

“Daddy, wake up!” she would urge, tiny hands around his arm, shaking him awake. If that didn't work, she would climb on top of him and poke him until he opened his eyes. 

“Ok, ok, I'm up, baby, I’m up”, he had to say, to make her stop. 

“It's breakfast time!” And off to the kitchen she ran, where Karen was usually already preparing her favorite meal of the day. 

His ritual of getting up, walking to the kitchen, picking her up to place her in her chair, kissing the top of her head and then getting his good morning greeting from Karen was something he treasured more than anything in the world. Nothing beat having his girls with him in the kitchen, the day barely starting, but already so full of love, of everything that made him whole. 

That Saturday, after lunch, they loaded her into Claire’s car. They would spend the afternoon at her mom’s diner in Harlem, making cupcakes for the day care party on Monday. 

“Bye, daddy!” She shouted as Claire drove away. “I'm waving!” She added and he smiled, waving back, sensing that little hand waving back and forth at him. 

Getting back inside, he found Karen in their girl’s room, picking up the action figures scattered around the floor. When she got up, he put his arms around her waist and his nose on the crook of her neck. 

“So”, she said, pulling him back into their room, after he took a proper good morning kiss. “I have some news.”

“Oh?” He asked. She's been all secretive all week, and the phone calls with Trish have been more frequent. Plus, Ellison wanted her back. He suspected she got that promotion. But he wasn't gonna spoil her surprise. “Good or bad?”

She breathed and smiled, caressing his face. She was about to say something when he joked:

“You're not pregnant again, are you?”

She froze. 

“Are you gonna do that every time?!”


End file.
